In contrast to other major families of Lepidoptera where sex pheromones and sex attractants are known for several species, the pheromone of only one geometrid species, the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.) has been identified. This winter moth pheromone, (Z,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene, constitutes another example of a new group of pheromone components, unsaturated hydrocarbons, which have been reported in the last few years from species of Arctiidae (Conner et al, Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 7, 55-63, 1980; A. S. Hill and W. L. Roelofs, J. Chem. Ecol. 7, 655-668, 1981; A. S. Hill et al, J. Chem. Ecol. 8, 383-396, 1982) and Noctuidae (R. R. Heath et al, J. Chem. Ecol. 9, 645-656, 1983; E. W. Underhill et al, J. Chem. Ecol. 9, 1413-1423, 1983). E. W. Underhill et al, at the National Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, in Toronto, November 1982, reported that males of 15 geometrid species gave strong electroantennograph (EAG) responses to one or more unsaturated C.sub.18-22 hydrocarbons and monoepoxides substituted at positions 3, 6 and 9. Included in the group of responding geometrids was the fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria (Harris).
This unsaturated hydrocarbon group of pheromone components is quite distinct from the unsaturated alcohols and unsaturated alcoholic esters found to be active components of pheromone mixtures for such species as the sunflower moth (see: E. W. Underhill et al, Canadian Patent No. 1,139,659) and the darksided cutworm moth (see: G. E. Swailes and D. L. Struble, Canadian Patent No. 1,085,722).
Larvae of the fall cankerworm are major defoliators of ornamental trees in N. America, including elm, oak, apple, beech and linden. In late fall, when the temperature nears freezing, adult moths emerge and the vestigial-winged females climb trees or buildings where mating occurs and eggs are deposited. Methods of controlling populations of fall cankerworm have included use of Bacillus thuringiensis, insecticides and banding tree trunks to trap adult females. Population control by mating disruption using the insect's sex pheromone is another alternative. This may be particularly useful for fall cankerworm control since females cannot fly from non-treated areas into pheromone disrupted areas, a common drawback to this method.